Reality
by LauRa-ReaDinG-XoX
Summary: She wasn't quite sure how her whole life could suddenly turn upside down in a matter of hours, her body felt numb while her mind was stuck on repeat - how could this happen? Why was it kept a secret? Secrets, she wasn't sure how she felt about the word, she use to never give it a second thought but now it held a whole new meaning. {Steven Tyler} {Aerosmith}


**Reality**

"_Some days you're the bug, some days you're the windshield." _

― _Steven Tyler_

She wasn't quite sure how her whole life could suddenly turn upside down in a matter of hours, her body felt numb while her mind was stuck on repeat - _how could this happen? Why was it kept a secret? _Secrets, she wasn't sure how she felt about the word, she use to never give it a second thought but now it held a whole new meaning. In hours, her parents were taken from her in a drunken car crash and in the awake of their death revealed hidden knowledge.

Dread first filled her stomach at opening the door to a couple of police, their grim faces not helping the moment as her grandmother stood beside her. "Delaney Brody?"

"That would be me." Their full attention was brought upon her and she wished to god she hadn't opened the door and had left the music turned to an unreasonable volume.

"We are sorry to inform you that your parents were involved in a car crash, they didn't survive-" The rest of the Officers words hazed into the background as she stared just above the Officers shoulder not clearly seeing what was in front of her. All she could hear was _car crash_ and _didnt_ _survive_.

She could vaguely feel the pressure of her grandmothers hand as the door closed with a click and Delaney was steered in the direction of the lounge. The old couch didn't have the same effect on her as it usually did, the usual comfy cushions felt stiff against her body. "Sweetheart?" The soft tone of her grandmother's voice made her focus on the older woman's wrinkled face, green eyes filled with tears. "Come here." The older woman pulled her against her frail body on the couch, emotions swelling in both of them as they used each other for comfort.

It was the next day that she felt as if auto pilot was on, her body going through the notions of the day. Delaney did notice that though she wasn't feeling ninety percent in the right frame of mind, her grandmother seem to decrease with her energy, the already sick woman losing more of her edge at hearing the sudden death of her daughter.

Cooking and caring for her grandmother was a thankful task instead of the usual dragging one, it gave her something to do with herself, keeping her hands busy and making sure her mind wouldn't wander to far from the topic at hand.

The few days went by slow when in reality the pace was quick as plans were made for a funeral and the surreal part of it faded at the edges rapidly as Delaney stared down at the closed coffin, they couldn't have an open one because the damage from the wreck had been to major. It was that last glimmer of hope that it was a mere dream of her wild imagination as she couldn't see their faces.

It was throwing down the purple and white paradise flower onto her parent's coffins as they sat in the dirt of the cemetery, along with the heat of the sun making sweat drip down her back and the cold headstone against her hand that made the crying of others echo in her ears as her own tears silently streamed down her cheeks - it was _truly_ happening, they were gone, _forever_.

To a seventeen year old, they needed support and structure as they made their transaction to adult hood and making decisions, ideas on how they would like to live their life. She did have all that in place a few weeks ago, now it was scattered like a broken necklace of beads on a wooden floor.

There was choice she had to make, her thoughts couldn't center on one thing, they went in different directions as adults _talked_ to her instead of actually _speaking_ to her or asked about her opinions. She wished their was someone to take over the role but her grandmother was in no shape to do so and Delaney didn't want to be attending another funeral anytime soon so she stepped up to the plate and quickly realised the heavy handful upon her, her young shoulders hunching at the weight.

It was the social services that put another twist in the bends of her roller coaster, they took the reins like she wanted someone to do but they revealed more information than she had ever been told about.

The woman from the social services was named Amy, Delaney knew she wasn't the kind of woman she would normal share company with as she followed the rules, strict on what Delaney can and can't do - the woman was worse than her own parents had been.

Amy went to the meeting with the solicitor with her, she was glad not to be stuck in the room with the older guy who had a comb over and his gray suit that made her feel slightly uncomfortable. The man practically told her that she now owned everything that was her parents excepted she couldn't legally have half their belongings because she was underage.

Underage, that brought forth the real problem and the reason to Amy's presence. Her grandmother wasn't in the best shape to be taking on guardianship and the rest of her family weren't that close connected. She had never met her father's side, for some reason they wanted nothing to do them, Delaney didn't really know the story to that but there was the rare argument between her parents about it. As for her mum's side, her dad fought in the war and she was a lonely child so that led to two died ends.

They were in her grandmother's lounge room talking over matters when Amy spoke. "Guess that leaves your biological father."

"Biological?" The word sounded strange in Delaney's head but hearing it out loud brought an awful twist inside her stomach. She looked to Amy for an answer, the woman seemed mildly stunned before the teenager turned her attention to her grandmother who was staring at her frail hands. "What do you mean? Chris Brody is my father." The very man who raised her and loved her mother, the one Delaney had to bury into the ground not that long ago.

Her grandmother didn't glance at Delaney but the other woman in the room. "Amy would you give us a moment?" The social worker seem busting with energy to escape the room. As Amy made her way to the door she couldn't help but feel pity for the teenager, it seemed things kept happening to Delaney, one after another.

Delaney turned her full attention on her grandmother, her heart already pounding her chest. "Chris was, _is_ my dad." She said the words out loud again waiting for someone to deny the truth, it had to be a joke.

"Yes, Chris is your _dad_ but not your _father_." She didn't think there was much difference in those words but supposedly there was. "Your mother was pregnant _before_ she met Chris."

Delaney sat there on the couch for a while trying to process her grandmother's words. "Mum..." She didn't quite know what to say, what was there to say about the woman that brought her up? Why hadn't she told her the truth? What else could possibly be a lie? "Who is it?" The words came out as a whisper - did she want the answer to _that_?

"You have to understand that everything your mother did, she was thinking about you." The older woman suddenly felt like she had aged at the rapid emotions flickering across her grandchild's face. For once she had wished her daughter had done something different, it would have made Delaney's transfer that much easier at knowing the truth. "She wanted to protect you."

"Protect me?! What is he? A criminal?" The young girl's head suddenly filled with multiple encounters to why her mother felt the need to protect her. "Did he murder someone?"

"Delaney, be serious." The woman had to give it to the child, she had a large imagination on top of her shoulders and _that_ was something she had no doubt got from her father. "Do you want to know who-"

_"No!"_ The teenager sudden stood up from the couch, her grandmother simply watching her with a raised eyebrow. "I-I don't want to know." She didnt wait for a reply from her grandmother and started for the stairs to her bedroom at two at a time before slamming the door on her made shift bedroom.

It didn't even feel right laying on her bed, the mattress was different, the room was set out different- it wasn't her room back in her parents house. Nothing was feeling right a that moment, it wasn't how life was went to go. Her parents were meant to be alive, smiling at her when she finally graduated at high school and help her chose which path to take next.

College would have no doubt happened, her Dad wanting her to go for a course as a electrician, her Mum going in the direction of nursing while Delaney wanted to do a course that none of them would agree on, Art. They always said to follow her passion though her parents wanted something that would _support_ her not something as flimsy as an Artist.

Now, she wasn't sure which direction her life, let alone her career would end up. Would it end up with her _father_? What could she possibly need protection from? Was the man apart of the Russian mob? A local drug dealer? Or an FBI agent? The lists of what _ifs_ continued to stream on as she stared up at the yellow ceiling above her.

The knock at the bedroom door echoed through the almost empty room. "Go Away!"

"Are you seriously telling me to shut it?" The voice on the other side of the door was calm, the tone however made a smile grace Delaney's lips at hearing her best friend. "Dee, open the door."

"It isn't locked." She heard the faint sound of an 'Oh' coming from the other side before Maddie opened the door. The black head teenager contrasted Delaney with her piecing and combat boots but they got along like two peas in a pod.

Her friend flopped down on the bed beside her, making the single bed seem smaller than usual and they both stared up at the ceiling. "Grandma called you." Maddie nodded her head, staying to the blunt truth even if it hurt someone and right at that moment she needed someone like Maddie to set things straight .

"You've never fought with your Grams before." It was true, stuck in their small country town, everyone knew everyone and her Grandma only lived a few blocks away so the older woman had always been a large part of Delaney's life from encouraging her in school production to baby sitting.

"I have a father."

Maddies started laughing, the sound light compared to her dull wardrobe. "Of course you do silly, everyone has a Dad!"

"My _biological_ father." Maddie turned away from the ceiling with a frown between her eyebrows, no doubt the same expression on Delaney's face.

Her friends voice was a whisper, "Like Chris wasn't your father?" Delaney simply nodded her head waiting for some kind of wisdom that Maddie would spout from her lips like per usual. "That's cool right?! Do you know who?" The blank look on Delaney's face answered the question. Maddie suddenly got onto her knees on the bed. "Who do you think it could be? A rock star?"

Delaney couldn't help but snort at that. "Mum was _never_ that adventurous."

"Right, so a lawyer?" Delaney winced, she really hoped not. "Well he cant be to bad, I mean you turned out alright?" She hit Maddie on the thigh but couldn't help the laughter that escaped her. "You always felt like there was something missing with them at times, like your Art for example!"

"I guess your right." Her voice came out small.

"Guess, you _know_ I'm right." Maddie laid back down on the bed taking their previous positions to staring at the ceiling. "It makes sense."

"What does?" She wasn't quite sure if Maddie and herself were on the same page anymore.

"Chris parents, you never got to know them."

"They stayed away like the plague." It was true, Delaney couldn't even tell anyone a single thing about her fathers, _step_-fathers parents.

"I bet you they knew all along, that's why they disliked your mum." And just like that, Maddie was able to click into place an unsolved problem.

"Jesus Christ!" The words flew out of her mouth making Maddie get into a round of laughter.

As the laughter died down and the reality once again settled over the two teenagers, they got lost in their own track of thoughts until Maddie spoke up."Do you want to find out who this guy is?"

"I don't know." Maddie was making sense, but there was still a part of her that doubted.

"Think of it this way, you have a couple more years and you'll be legal to do whatever the hell you want whether its staying or leaving the guy." Her friend made a very valid point and what other options did she have? Be sent into the system and end up in god knows where with a stranger. Yeah the guy would also be a stranger but they would have that simple connection that she was his daughter.

"That's not far." She'd be legal soon and it would be _her_ choice how to run her life.

"Exactly, come on." Maddie was walking to the door before Delaney could say another word. "Come on, Dee! Lets go find your Grams." She moved from the bed and followed behind Maddie, she wasn't sure where the girl got half her energy as she entered the lounge.

Her grandmother hadn't moved from the couch and merely looked up at her as she entered the room, she felt slightly guilty for the reaction earlier on, it wasn't her Grandma's fault that she never knew. "I don't want to know the reason just _who_ he is." Her grandmother nodded her head in understanding and Delaney was thankful for Maddie actually staying with her for support.

"Steven Tyler." The name didn't mean anything to Delaney, she was awful with them to begin with but a dramatic gasp sounded from behind her.

"You have got to be kidding me?" Maddie's voice came out as a whisper, her eyes directed at her Grandma sitting back in the couch. "Steven_ Tyler." _Delaney felt completely at loss as she tried to remember anyone in their small town with the last name Tyler. "As in Aerosmith's lead singer!"

The bands name registered in her mind, they were a well known rock band that Delaney even knew about. She stood there for a moment until it actually kicked in - _her father, Steven Tyler, Aerosmith_ - She glanced over to her Grandma with wide eyes, looking for some kind of joke on the matter but the wrinkles on her grandmother's face never shifted making Delaney wish she had stayed in her room for a couple more hours. _Her father was a rock star! _

**AN**: I've written a Gn'Rs fan fiction so I wanted to give an Aerosmith with Steven Tyler a shot. _I don't mean any disrespect to Aerosmith or Steven Tyler, just writing a story purely on fiction._ I'm not positive if I should keep this as a singular chapter or carry it on as a short story, tell me what you think please.


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